Apple’s online store was open today at 3 am to begin pre-orders for the long-awaited iPhone X and whether or not the supply chain rumors were true, its already proving tough to get a hold of.
Within the first 30 minutes, orders that promise to arrive on launch day (November 3) are no longer available to US buyers, with people in the US, UK, China, Japan and elsewhere now seeing an expected wait of at least 4-5 weeks until they get their new device. The Apple store in Hong Kong, on the other hand, has absolutely no supply available. This means that if you want your new phone faster, you’ll have to join a line at an Apple retail store or buy it off eBay for what we can only assume will be a considerable markup.
Reports have suggested that it is both the components in Face ID and the OLED screen that have caused the iPhone X to be limited in stock. To create the OLED screen, the panel has been sourced from Samsung therefore Apple is relying on its main rival to produce enough displays, and its many partners to produce the components required for Face ID. A report from Bloomberg earlier this week suggested that Apple’s suppliers have struggled to source these components but the company hit back, stating that this reports was “completely false.”
It’s going to be months until we see the iPhone X available in stores on a regular basis but delivery times were previously rumored to be a lot worse than what we’re seeing right now. However, until sales numbers are released, there’s no way we can say whether this is due to soft demand or Apple ramping up its production rates.
